Star Wars: Episode VII adds an Oscar winner and a Game of Thrones actor to the cast

Add two more actors to the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII: Lupita Nyong’o and Gwendoline Christie. The casting is confirmed at the source, on StarWars.com, though there’s no word on which characters they’ll be taking on.

Gwendoline Christie

Nyong’o, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in 2013’s 12 Years a Slave, was rumored to be up for a role in the film back in March. The report suggested that she’d be playing some descendant of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, though that possibility was never corroborated and shouldn’t be considered confirmed even now that Nyong’o is officially cast.

There’s even less to be said about Christie, beyond the fact that the casting of these two women addresses a notable absence of female roles that was observed after the original casting announcement. Christie is best-known for her performance as Brienne of Tarth on HBO’s Game of Thrones, though she’ll also be appearing in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.

“I could not be more excited about Lupita and Gwendoline joining the cast of Episode VII,” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said in a prepared statement. “It’s thrilling to see this extraordinarily talented ensemble taking shape.”